To: PM and key cabinet ministers (TB, ISED, NRCan, ECCC, AgCan)
Lobby the federal government to mobilize Canada for the climate emergency
Let's urge the federal government to use Canada's role in World War II as inspiration and precedent, and take charge to address and reverse the climate and ecological crises. They can transform the Canadian economy, over-riding the provinces, when needed--it's been done before.
They can reduce greenhouse gas emissions so Canada punches above its weight to help the world avoid 1.5 degrees of warming and reverse habitat loss, which is driving the Sixth Mass Extinction. We can and must put in place a Green New Deal (or whatever you want to call it), which makes it feasible for everyday Canadians to buy into making changes, and prioritizes a just transition, vulnerable people and Indigenous sovereignty. We can communicate the urgency for profound systemic change through the arts and mass media.
Quoting from Seth Klein's book, A Good War: Mobilizing Canada for the Climate Emergency, published in 2020: "The world has just ten years to at least halve our greenhouse gas emissions if we are to have a hope of holding global warming to a 1.5 C degree increase. Currently, Canada is not on a path to meet its greenhouse gas reduction targets, and radical systemic change to the way we live and work must happen at high speed, but how are we ever to do this?
We can do it. We've actually done it before. During the Second World War, Canadians and their governments completely remade the economy--retooling factories, transforming the workforce and creating common cause among Canadians for the war effort... It turns out the world can turn on a dime if necessary."
Each of the twelve chapters in Klein's book contains a wealth of information and inspiring perspectives that can inform lobbying efforts. Let's study each chapter for a month, draw up actionable items, and approach (lobby) key federal departments through letter-writing campaigns and virtual and in-person meetings. Let's show the Prime Minister and his cabinet that Canadians support the government doing what needs to be done, so long as it's a thoughtful, just transition, including for workers in polluting industries.
See https://www.sethklein.ca/book
http://emersonhouse.ca/Marketing/BookClubs/agoodwar_bookclub.pdf
Why is this important?
We are in deeply uncertain times. Climate change disasters, including forest fires, flooding and drought, are touching the lives of virtually everyone. Canadians can ensure the federal government acts as though climate change is an existential threat, by using its constitutional powers to take charge.
A new world cannot be born while the needed changes to our cultural and economic systems seem politically impossible. Quoting from Klein's A Good War: "Most of us know the battle for our lives must soon get underway, and most of our leaders are now talking tough on climate. But we're not quite sure how to begin in earnest."
The time has come for those of us who are aware of the risks to study this book, raise awareness, and lobby the government on its duty to act, no matter the cost. As CD Howe, who established 28 Crown corporations and did detailed economic planning to ensure WWII production was where it needed to be, famously said, “If we lose the war, nothing will matter.” It's even more true now: nothing will matter if we don't beat climate change and biodiversity loss.
How it will be delivered
Appeal to Leadnow members who are concerned about the climate and ecological crisis that the federal government can and must take action on par with what Canada did in World War II, including negotiating deep and troublesome regional differences and issues of provincial/federal jurisdiction.